chapter 5

Sisterly Reunion.

Getting an audience with Ava Winters wasn't that difficult. All Lily had to do was call Ava's office and pretend to be a financier under a different name.

After all, Maron was looking to take hold in the United States of America, so Ava was in the mood to meet with people who had the money to invest.

Since there was no secretary, Lily went straight into the office. And there was her sister in flesh and blood. The same one she had forced Damon to cast out of the house like a used rag.

But she looked so much different now. Sitting behind the big table and in the midst of the decor. Lily had the feeling that her sister was going to be a powerful competitor soon. And she was the only one who could put a stop to that.

Ava looked up, expecting to see someone she had never met before. Instead, she stared at Lily. Her sister.

Ava smiled and shook her head from side to side.

Lily walked close to the table and they stared at each other for a full minute.

"Still, you haven't changed. Your tricks still stick with you even after all these years."

"Why have you come back here, Ava?" Lily demanded.

"Oh, I got the letter and I had to leave Canada. Can't blame me."

"You still hold grudges, don't you?"

"Which you put inside of me. And I am glad that you did." Ava sat down and crossed one leg over the other.

"What are you talking about?"

"You made Damon file that divorce, Lily. Don't think I haven't found out what you did. But you aren't my focus right now."

"Damon is, right?"

Ava just smiled. "If you aren't interested in being a financier, kindly leave my office."

"This is a dangerous game you're playing, Ava. And you might get yourself hurt."

"Not anymore. Right now, I have no feelings whatsoever."

"You don't know the people you're dealing with"

"And you do? Allow me to be the judge of that. Leave. Now."

Lily put both hands on the table. "As your sister, I am going to ask you to stop whatever it is you plan on doing."

Ava smiled. She wasn't going to listen to Lily. And she kept silent until the fake financier left.

***

Ava didn't stop at all. She made sure she got in the way of Blackwood Industries at every opportunity she could find.

Back in Canada, her bosses were happy that she was manoeuvring deals with Maron, even though they had planned on going with Blackwood. And so, she got all the support that she needed.

All these were possible because of James Carter. The man never failed to deliver. And Ava started to have second thoughts about making him just expendable.

"Are you sure Damon isn't suspecting anything yet?" she asked when they met at a bar one evening.

"Not really."

Ava looked at him. "What do you mean by not really?"

"Well, he knows I'm meeting with someone, but he doesn't know it's you yet."

"That's scary. He can't find out. What did you tell him?"

"That I was meeting with a lady and it has nothing to do with business."

She saw the glint in his eye and Ava wasn't sure if the man was getting interested in her or not. Well, that was one thing she would make sure to quell.

She was not available for any man. But something told her that wasn't going to last for long.

The way she had looked at Damon that night at the ceremony, something fluttered in her tummy. He had grown some muscles and it even made him more attractive. Seeing him with her sister just made the jealousy hit harder.

Ava was going to make his life miserable, she shouldn't allow seduction into her head.

"All right, then. Keep telling him that."

"Anyway, there's another reason why I wanted us to meet," James announced. "Something you should be aware of."

"What's that?"

"There is some secrecy surrounding the reason why you even got married to my boss in the first place."

"Meaning?"

"Well, it just doesn't make sense to me. Why get married to you under such circumstances, then get divorced after months of your marriage?"

"I would not call that a marriage, James."

"Fine. All I am saying is that your sister must have had a reason to drug you."

"Well, you were the one with her. Why don't you tell me?"

"I can't because I don't know."

"Then find out and stop making insinuations that hold no water. Gotta go."

It wasn't before James pieced the pieces together and found out the truth. After all, he had been a bodyguard for long. It was a shocking one and he knew that Ava would be shocked and devastated. At least, she'd trust him more because he was the only one that she could trust.

They met at the same venue two days later.

"Have you found it out?" Ava asked.

"I have."

"Spit it out."

"What I am about to tell you can be... hurtful, Ava," he ventured.

"I can handle it," Ava assured him.

He sighed. "So the death of your father was planned after all."

That took a while to settle in. It had been long since the issue of her father came up. And James Carter was the one bringing it up. Even Lily avoided talking about him.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You remember Victor Blackwood, don't you?"

"I do."

"He had dealings with your father. Strictly business, until it went wrong."

"What went wrong?" Ava wanted to know.

"Victor mismanaged Blackwood shares and the company was close to going bankrupt. I guess it was hatred because he wasn't happy when he found out that Damon was the one inheriting Blackwood Industries, not him.

"So he reached out to your father, who was the head of a conglomerate so that he could sell the shares and save the company. Damon wasn't even aware of this.

"Your father refused and suddenly died, some days later. Then you got married to Damon when you were at your lowest. These are pieces I pierced together and found out that your father might have known about Victor's dealings and was silenced to keep the secret."

Ava covered her mouth with both hands.

"Then, Victor met with Lily and made her drug you. It was easy then. Damon slept with you and Victor forced him to marry you. Ava, the moment you signed that nuptial agreement, you transferred your father's shares to Victor's name, thereby saving Blackwood Industries."

"No, that's impossible."

Victor handed her a document. "Everything is in there. You were next of kin. Then you lost everything. I'm sorry this happened."

Ava could not believe what she was hearing. But the proof was right there and everything suddenly seemed to make more sense.

Her father was murdered by Blackwood, and they were living off her inheritance!